1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a thermal image forming apparatus using a thermal printhead (TPH). More particularly, the present invention relates to an apparatus and method for setting a print condition according to a TPH of the thermal image forming apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, a thermal image forming apparatus prints text or images using heat. The thermal image forming apparatus includes a method of using media capable of presenting a predetermined color in reaction to heat and a method of using an ink ribbon that transfers a predetermined color to a sheet of paper in reaction to heat. The thermal image forming apparatus is advantageous in that mechanical sound generated during printing is very small and a structure thereof is simple so that it can be made to be small in size. The method of using the ink ribbon requires an additional driving apparatus to drive the ink ribbon and the ink ribbon needs to be continuously replaced so that print costs per page is high. Alternatively, a method of using the media which does not need the ink ribbon uses thermal paper. Thus, since a predetermined color appears when heat is applied to the thermal paper, the print costs are relatively lower than the method of using the ink ribbon.
The TPH for printing text or images is a core part of the thermal image forming apparatus. The TPH is manufactured by depositing a plurality of electric heating bodies on a ceramic insulation body in a predetermined form of points. When current is applied to a wire connecting the points, the electric heating bodies generate heat so that the text or image can be printed on a thermal paper located close to the TPH.
However, the TPH used for the thermal image forming apparatus has different print conditions between various vendors, such as, for example, gamma, sensitivity, and other parameters, such as ampli, ki, alpha, and so forth. Thus, to set an optimal print condition, it is needed to appropriately set a print condition according to a particular TPH vendor. To this end, a user inconveniently needs to set the print condition according to the TPH vendor.
Accordingly, a need exists for a thermal image forming apparatus having an improved thermal printhead that automatically sets print conditions for each particular vendor.